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A high-impact winter storm will slam the northern and eastern US on Friday, but winter weather is already affecting many portions of the US – find out where; plus, more of today’s weather news and forecast.
Tomorrow will bring a high-impact winter storm, but winter weather is already affecting most of the US. Here’s today’s weather picture around the country…
Western US: Snow and a wintry mix
A mix of rain and snow is already impacting Washington, Oregon, and a large portion of northern and central California. Mix precipitation is also affecting the higher elevations of Southern California.
Most of central and southern California will see rainfall today.
Western Nevada will experience a wintry mix, while snow will fall on most of eastern Nevada. Snowfall for most of Utah can be expected. Western Idaho will see a wintry mix, while snow will fall on the eastern part of the state.
Snowfall for western Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana.
Southwest US: Mix precipitation, snow, and rain
Northern and eastern Arizona will see a wintry mix, while the southwest portion of the state will see rain today.
Central and northern parts of New Mexico will see mix precipitation, heavy snow possible in the higher elevations, with rain and thunderstorms to the south and east.
Central US: Freezing rain
Freezing rain is possible for the eastern half of Nebraska, all of Kansas, western Missouri, northern and western Oklahoma, and in northern Arkansas.
Southern US: Rain and thunderstorms
Rain and thunderstorms are forecast for most of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia today. Rain is forecast for the eastern half of Florida and for central and eastern South Carolina.
Eastern US: Snow & wintry mix
The northeastern US will see snowfall today ahead of a larger system that arrives tomorrow. Snowfall for most of Michigan, Eastern Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, eastern and northern New York, northern New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.
A wintry mix is on tap for western Virginia, eastern West Virginia, central and northern Pennsylvania, eastern and southern New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and southern Vermont, and New Hampshire.
The year 2019 was second-hottest year ever recorded on Earth since record keeping began, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Scientists for the WMO say we should prepare ourselves to expect more extreme weather events in the future.
Using a combination of several datasets, the World Meteorological Organization found that the average global temperature in 2019 was 1.1 degrees Celsius or 2.0 Fahrenheit above preindustrial temperature levels.
“Unfortunately, we expect to see much extreme weather throughout 2020 and the coming decades, fuelled by record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
The new findings make 2019 the second-warmest year since record keeping began. 2019 came in at just 0.1 Celsius or 0.2 Fahrenheit below the hottest year ever, which was recorded was 2016 when the average global temperature reached 1.2 Celsius or 2.2 Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels, driven by an El Niño weather pattern.
“In the future w,e easily can expect warmer El Ninos than the previous ones,” WMO scientist Omar Baddour said. “We can raise a red flag now.”
The 2015 Paris Climate Accord set a limit with the aim of restraining global warming to 1.5 Celsius or 2.7 Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels. A consensus of international scientists are in agreement that if global temperatures rise higher than these amounts, it will bring major changes to life on Earth, which includes melting most of Arctic sea ice, as well as wiping out all of the coral reefs in the world’s oceans.
The latest WMO data for 2019 confirms that the temperature of the planet is continuing to rise to a level ever closer to the critical point at which it will drive major climate change on Earth.
West: San Francisco 52, Los Angeles 60, Reno 43, Salt Lake City 46, Denver 47.
Northwest: Seattle 43, Portland 39, Boise 39, Billings 31.
Southwest: Las Vegas 60, Phoenix 69, Albuquerque 38, El Paso 55, San Antonio 70.
Central: Dallas 56, Oklahoma City 39, Kansas City 31, Rapid City 41.
North-central: Bismarck 0, Minneapolis 4, Chicago 24, Detroit 37.
South: Houston 75, New Orleans 76, Memphis 48, Atlanta 61, Charlotte 63, Jacksonville 80, Tampa 82, Miami 80.
East: Cincinnati 40, Norfolk 63, Washington 55, Buffalo 37, New York 49, Boston 45, Bangor 23.
